Fitted the winch bumper and winch today. The winch isn’t wired up yet but it’s starting to come together. I want to wire it up in such a way that, in an emergency, the winch can be moved to the rear and mounted on a plate on the rear cross member – just in the off chance that going forward isn’t an option !
Also mounted the ARB compressor on the wheel arch behind the passenger seat. Eventually it will power the ARB lockers and the winch freespool as well as providing air for blowing tyres up.
Big day today, finished changing the suspension over with new springs and the Koni rear shock absorbers. As well as the suspension change we fitted the new steel wheels and ST Maxx tyres. It’s starting to look a lot more purposeful now.
The Koni shock absorbers are the most aggressively gassed shockers I’ve ever come across. It took two of us and a ratchet strap to compress each one far enough to actually fit it and that’s on their lowest setting…
Took the 90 to a local weighbridge today to find out how much it weighs now. Got a front and rear split weight as well as an overall weight so I can try and get the springs right to get the right ride height when it’s fully loaded.
Currently it has standard V8 springs which are fine for normal use but it sits a bit low for overland use, the ride is a bit harsh and it kept bottoming out last year on the coast to coast run with all the camping gear in the back.
The aim is to get it slightly higher at the rear than the back when fully loaded but not stupidly high when it’s not loaded and it’s being used for commuting.
I’ve made a start on getting the auxilliary battery system and fuse box installed. Using two Odyssey batteries, one for the vehicle electrics and the second as an auxiliary battery to power the fridge, winch, lighting etc…
The two batteries are isolated/connected together via a solenoid that is activated at the moment when the ignition is turned on. At some point I’ll change it so that it’s activated when the oil pressure light goes out with an override to allow it to be connected as a “jump start” battery should the main battery lose charge for any reason.
The auxiliary fuse box is a modular type allowing the inclusion of relays and fuses in each section, according to our eventual needs. It sits quite nicely behind the passenger’s seat and should make it easy to provide power to both the rear and the front of the vehicle.
Well, our plans to go on a trip around Scotland for our wedding anniversary went out of the window. Still no sign of the roof tent and very little indication of when it might actually arrive. Very frustrating but we took the tin tent up to Helmsley for a few days instead and put a lot of miles on the 90 travelling around the area. On the plus side the weather is great, too hot really but hopefully good practice !
We did a bit of gentle green laning along the way and found out that the transfer box doesn’t like staying in low box, probably just an adjustment problem on the level as we’ve not tried it since the engine transplant.
25 years, doesn’t time fly !
Went up to the Yorkshire Overland Gathering at Trek Overland today and had a look around some of the goodies available. No sign of our roof tent yet unfortunately, although it was a slim chance anyway – we ordered it in November last year and it is due in end of March/beginning of April. Would have been nice to have tried it out there but not to worry we should be able to give it a good shakedown for our wedding anniversary trip in May.
It was a small but interesting “show” with a few of the local overland specialists and suppliers getting together for the weekend. Brendan and Barbara (4×4 Overland) were there and as ever had lots on display to give us plenty to think about.
Not really done much on the 90 in the past couple of weeks although, as usual, lots of plans made on paper and in our heads ! Things are kind of on hold until the roof tent arrives.
Well, the roll cage is now fitted apart from one bolt on each side that will need the rear and the sides of the cage to be removed before I can drill the holes.
It took some fitting but I think the end result is worth it, giving us a mounting system for the tent and anything else we want to put on the roof, supplying separation between the passenger and luggage area and increased safety should the worst happen.
While I’ve certainly saved some cash by fitting it myself, I would strongly recommend anybody fitting one to a “shiny” motor to get P&P to do it – a LOT less stress that way !
Spent today at Maddison 4×4 fitting the roll cage and getting the 90 through it’s MOT.
I have to say that when P&P gave me a quote for fitting the cage I immediately thought, “how much !”. Having spent the best part of the day fighting with the cage I now think the price they quoted was a bargain.
The cage itself is fine, it all fits beautifully but the stress and pain involved in checking and double checking every measurement before drilling holes in the body work and then fitting and refitting the cage sections without scratching the paintwork is something you don’t appreciate until you try it.
Still, MOT passed OK and with the occasional help of Patrick, Izzy and Terry at Maddison 4×4 it’s mostly fitted now and tomorrow should see the last bits fitted. Pictures courtesy of Terry’s phone 🙂
Despite spending years completely failing to understand the appeal of chequer plate on Defenders we’ve finally succumbed !
In part it’s because the wings that were replaced a few years ago have holes in them for mounting the chequer plate, as does the back body. There are also practical reasons as we suspect that chequer plate on the wings will give us another option for accessing the roof.
The roll cage arrived a couple of weeks ago and I should be fitting it this weekend if all goes according to plan.
Since fitting the TD5 the performance has been a bit flat at higher revs. While this has been good for fuel consumption figures it’s been a bit annoying. I rigged up a makeshift fuel pressure gauge today using an oil pressure gauge and sender.
Turns out we were only getting 20 psi at the rail, the TD5 is supposed to run at more like 65/70 psi at the rail. I replaced the pickup in the tank with a 300TDi version and it’s transformed the vehicle. A good constant 70 psi at the rail and it shows in the performance. Were it not for the diesel rattle you’d almost think the V8 was back.
Still need to sort the exhaust out though as it’s still running with the “temporary” one I hooked up using bits of the V8 system.